Redmen hold on for wild 34-32 win

FOSTORIA – When Lake missed a 20-yard field goal with 45 seconds remaining in the game it looked as if Fostoria High School was in control. The Redmen gained possession and clung to a 34-32 lead. But the Flyers still had two timeouts so Fostoria had to run plays.Lake got a big play, recovering the football with 25 seconds on the clock after a FHS fumble on 3rd-and-1 from its own 29.The Flyers were unable to capitalize, however, as Silas Raney intercepted a pass from Lake quarterback Carter Behlmer, and the Redmen held on for the 34-32 victory in Northern Buckeye Conference play Friday at Dick Kidwell Field at Memorial Stadium."That's high school kids playing high school football," Fostoria coach Derek Kidwell said. "Last year it came down to a fourth down play up there, this year it came down to a play late in the fourth quarter. Just two teams trying to find themselves."Fostoria never trailed, but Lake hung around like a pesky mosquito. The Redmen went up 6-0 at 6:03 of the first with a 1-yard rushing score by Lance Miller, set up by a 58-yard run by Gavin Miller on a broken play.Caleb Tobias tied the game 6-6 when he pulled down a 19-yard touchdown pass from Behlmer with 1:00 left in the first quarter.Lance Miller scored his second touchdown of the night on a 3-yard run to regain the lead for Fostoria at 10:17. Gavin Miller passed to Julius Robinson for the 2-point conversion to put the Redmen up 14-6. FHS scored again later in the quarter when Gavin Miller found Robinson in the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown pass at 4:50 to go up 20-6.Later in the quarter the Flyers drove the ball from their own 45-yard line to Fostoria's 2-yard line to set up a 2-yard touchdown pass from Behlmer to Julian Rodriguez. Lake's run attempt for the 2-point conversion fell short to keep the score 20-12, a margin that stood at halftime.In the second half the teams traded scores for five straight possessions, starting with Lake receiving the kickoff and needing just six plays to drive the ball downfield, culminating in a 38-yard scoring reception by Jay Blazevich at 10:07. Behlmer passed to Gavin Kohlhofer for the conversion to tie the score 20-20.Fostoria scored on its next drive due in part to two long runs by Gavin Miller. The first was a 21-yard burst on 3rd-and-8 from the FHS 32 and the second was a 47-yard rushing touchdown on the next play. Miller then passed to Machi Johnson for 2 points and the Redmen again took the lead 28-20 at 6:58.Rodriguez scored for the Flyers on a 10-yard run at 3:56 and the conversion attempt ultimately failed after a pair of flags prompted it to be rerun twice, keeping the score 28-26.Matthew Balderama extended Fostoria's lead to 34-26 with a 1-yard rushing touchdown at 10:08 of the fourth quarter. Balderama also had a good game defensively with 1 ½ sacks for a loss.Ethan Bradfield pulled Lake within two points once again 34-32 with a 5-yard rushing touchdown at 7:04. Lake attempted an onside kick, but was flagged for a penalty and had to re-kick, this time opting to boot it downfield. The Flyers did hold Fostoria to three-and-out, but were unable to capitalize on the ensuing drive."Hard fought game," Kidwell said. "There's a lot of things we can do better but to our kids' credit they hung in there. When (Lake) scored or were tied up or come down by two we would go down to score to keep a little bit of breathing room, so (I'm) proud of our kids."